Palm Coast to give local billing company first shot in 2014

Monthly utility costs might not be all Palm Coast hopes to change in the near future. It may also sign a contract with a local company to handle the city's electronic billing.

TONY HOLTSTAFF WRITER

PALM COAST -- Monthly utility costs might not be all Palm Coast hopes to change in the near future. It may also sign a contract with a local company to handle the city's electronic billing. Palm Coast Data has an early advantage to win the big contract next year because it is a locally-based business, according to city officials. The City Council plans to vote Tuesday on renewing a one-year deal with High Cotton USA Inc., which was awarded a three-year contract in 2010. The public meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Palm Coast Community Center at 305 Palm Coast Parkway, N.E. Palm Coast Data was invited to submit a bid back then but it had too many technological limitations at the time, Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon said during a public workshop last week. "Three years ago they said 'no,' " Landon told council members. "They didn't feel they had the necessary capacity to do this." Finance Director Chris Quinn said the city has always extended an invitation to Palm Coast Data, but the company had to go through "a whole big technology change" before executives there felt ready to handle the job. The company, at 11 Commerce Blvd., contacted the city recently to submit a bid but the process takes a few months and the city already was in line to renew a one-year deal with High Cotton, said Landon.Quinn said businesses specializing in utility billing services are "hotly sought after" by municipalities. He also said there are about five or six companies that cities and counties across Florida regularly contract with. "There is a lot to it," Quinn said. "There is more to it than just printing and mailing bills. You have a whole electronic system to deal with." The city has made a pledge to go paperless wherever it can, so a company that recognizes that puts itself in a good position, Quinn said. Landon told council members last week High Cotton would originally be offered the chance to bid for consecutive one-year contracts after its three-year contract expires. But the company recently was notified the city would not renew the second year of that one-year extension. "We want to give a local business an opportunity to bid for it," Landon said, referring to Palm Coast Data.The City Council also is expected to approve contracts related to hazardous tree removal and manhole maintenance. Council members also plan to officially appoint Mayor Jon Netts to the Volusia Transportation Planning Organization during Tuesday night's meeting.